In Search of Slavers

Scribe Notes

Summary

Adventure: In Search of Slavers

• aka: The Ssstupendousss Ssstrenuousss Sssearch for Sssigniiicant Sssquadronsss of Ssserpent Ssshaped Sssentient Ssslaversssss.

GM: Scott
Season: Summer 795 WK

Party

• Aqualina, Female Water Mage
• Axy Geldrax, Male Ranger (Scribe)
• Darien, Male Celestial Mage )Party Leader)
• Jhiselle, Female Fire Mage
• Kary, Female Wicca
• Meseraima, Female Necromancer
• Sonic Male Celestial Mage

Time on adventure

1 March to 16 April 1994 AP

Employer

Duke of Carzala

Contact: Captain Brown

Mission

To investigate and then wipe out a slaving ring, South West of Seagate, beyond Seacroft.

Original Scribe Notes

Media:Snsu9503.zip

Scribe Notes

Notes

Snakeman cult in the equatorial region of this world.

The Snakemen (Mages) are from another plane.

Frogmen (Mages) provide ships crew and underwater defence.

Humans and Goblins provide the muscle - no mages.

The slavers base - an old castle over a huge cavern through a headland.

Introducing the party

Aqualina

A very eye-catching if short woman, a shapechanger (Dolphin). An experienced adventurer, she specialises in the Water College. She sports very skimpy clothing - totally impractical, enjoyable but downright distracting. It's just as well I'm a healer, I expect Aqualina will catch her death of cold the way she dresses.

Axy Geldrax

I'm a fairly tall male Ranger. I don't belong to a magician's collage. This is my third adventure, after being party leader on my first outing, I thought I'd try scribe this time.

Darien

A male Celestial mage, and a Ranger like myself. As the most experienced adventurer amongst us he was voted Party Leader.

Jhiselle

Another female Mage, eye-catching, but in an altogether different way to Aqualina. An experienced Fire magician, who is also a Ranger. She is another shapechanger (a sparrow!).

Kary

A female Wicca. Like myself has a no-nonsense attitude, preferring to get stuck in as soon as possible, except she does it from a distance, and unseen.

Meseraima

A female Necromancer. She is very good at hand to paw combat, being yet another shapechanger (this time a Tiger). This is her second adventure, I was also on her first, and value her presence.

And introducing Meseraima's pet Fang - a rodent eating lizard that looks like a chicken, personally I don't see any point in it apart from light relief.

Sonic

A male fighter who is learning celestial magics. He is impetuous and keen to get stuck in, favouring the axe. Sonic is tall, and eager, you know, Dragon fodder

The party is all human and mostly female. The former is apparently strange for a guild party, the latter is hard to get used to, at least party leader is male. However experience shows that lady guild members can hold their own in a time of crisis. This time out I am the only true fighter, fortunately a few of the others look useful in a fight.

31 March 1994

Session 1: 19/12/94 We meet with Captain Brown who explains our mission. The Duke is worried about a gang of slavers that seem to have started operating in South-west Carzala. He is worried that the slavers may have agents in Seagate, we are therefore on notice to be 3 discrete. We have Ducal authority, but only to use if absolutely necessary. The mission, should we accept it, is to investigate disappearances to the South-west of Seagate (2 to 3 days travel) suspected to be by slavers. The populations of farms and small villages are taken, except for the young and the old who are found slaughtered. Trails of the attackers and prisoners can be tracked for about half a mile from the farm or village and then they disappear. This suggests a very good Ranger, magic, or even a flying ship, even a combination of the above. Objectives: Find out where they are operating from, and who/where they are trading to. 1 Rescue any captives. 2 Wipe out the slavers or get word to the Duke. Find out if there is another organisation behind it, what this organisation is, who heads it, why is it in Carzala, where is the base, and a side order of how can it be stopped. Renumeration: 500 sp per week. C 50 sp for each slaver proof by right hand or ear. C 5000 sp for each leader of raiding parties. C Much more for the boss, the chief honcho, the big cheese. C Special items: the Duke gets 10% salvage. C Large items ie carts, boats etc. The Duke gets the first option to purchase at 90 %. 1 April 1994 The party meet and, opting for experience appoint Darien leader. I am voted scribe amid competition from Aqualina. There are no military scientists in the party, I have just started such studies and hope to be of some help. The party visits the Fire Collage to get some protection from Fire. The evening saw us visit the Duke's place under cover of darkness to avoid any agents of the Slavers. We are dealt with by Corporal Oddjob. We get horses, Army equipment, and pack mules, all signed by Darien. Army equipment includes tents, camp beds, cooking gear, rations, grappling hooks, spikes, caltrops, manacles, and rope. Jhiselle gets a very feisty tall black stallion. 2 April 1994 The day starts with a light mist, and gets steadily worse as the day goes by. A marching order is assigned straight away, and we head off to the South West of Seagate. On the road we discuss possible plans of action. With Meseraima we can talk to dead villagers. We could work out where the Slaver's might strike next and then set some bait. An outside option is to infiltrate the gang. Rain rain rain, Aqualina is in her element and the only one who's happy. Nightfall brings us to the Jolly Farmer where we stay overnight. The women bathe (as they always seem to, even on missions). Over dinner, we discover a new apple based brew, Jack's Best Scumball. 4 3 April 1994 My brain hurts, thank the Gods I did some more healing studies in between adventures. The party buys 2 kegs of Jack's Rest, NOTE - if you are ever out this way don't drink Jack's Best Scumball out of metal containers. Off we trot, or rather off we trudge, weather report - drizzle. After one hour we leave the road and follow a trail - joy of joys. Despite being in the bush, we rangers can still get sick of bad weather. Evening draws to a close, further discussions concerning our mission dance around the need of a good cover story. Someone who shall remain nameless suggested that we could pose as a wedding party on honeymoon. Session 2: 9/1/95 The story we adopt is that we are after Frank the Black who murdered my brother, raped the cattle, branded the women, and stole the chickens, and worse than that he supports League. This should explain why a bunch of heavily armed people are wandering around a rather nondescript area. 4 April 1994 I get Aqualina to water proof my scribe notes and hide them in my water container. I keep a second more obvious set chronicling our search for Frank the Black. Today is a slog, very wet, but not cold. We head for the nearest trashed village known to the Dukes men. Mesaraima talked to several graves/dead bodies, many were unresponsive. Then Kary found a medallion, a fine piece of indeterminable metal on a silver chain. The picture of a rearing cobra's head bearing fangs is etched on it. Further enquiries with the dead indicated that one of the raiders died, and would you believe it, just by the medallion. Kary divinates the medallion, there was no magic before 5 weeks ago. The magic is permanent and keyed to the bearer. It is a medallion of telepathic communication - one way within 800 miles. Kary does not know if the sender will know if it is being used. This suggests that at least one of the Slavers is a Binder mage. Aqualina, Jhiselle and I follow a track to the sea, and then fetch Meseraima to check for deaths, but none are found. Back at the village, Meseraima speaks with the dead. From the dead Goblin we find out that the Slavers consist of Snakemen (Mages), Humans, Goblins, and one other race, but not dwarf, orc or elf. This last race is tougher than humans, has webbed hands, breathes underwater and favours the trident, we later find out that these are Frogmen. The Slavers base is in a large cavern in some cliffs on the mainland. Above the cave there is a stone castle which is camouflaged, and so would be hard to see from afar. The raiders use 4 ships. 5 In the evening a violent storm woke all of the party - so I'm told, I slept right through. 5 April 1994 The storm gets even worse, but at least the wind dies down a little. We have a second talk to the dead goblin. We find out that the Slavers operate out of a keep built in a hollow, with a wooden palisade. From the answers to our questions we have a very good idea of where the keep is located. Aqualina goes down a well to scrie, apparently being in water helps with her magic. I ask if scrieing is wise and wouldn't it alert the slavers to our presence. The Mages of the party are unanimous in their confident reply - there's absolutely nothing to worry about. Aqualina scries and confirms the location of the keep. Aqualina also gets frazzled. I laugh, Jhiselle does first aid and I heal, after I stop laughing. Aqualina acquires a disease from poisoned well water. We fly (Darien says it is slow, but I say WOW) back to the Guild, leaving the horses at Seacroft. I sprain my ankle landing, but two of the others are not so lucky. Kary gets two broken legs and Jhiselle is even worse, getting two broken legs, and a smashed collar bone. Jhiselle reckoned she was not used to flying this slow. Guild healers cure Aqualina's disease (rapid gangrene). The Fire collage check out Aqualina, she was hit with a high ranking malignant fire, by a ward or item, but not an entity. The Fire Collage has not seen this magic before. We leave a message for the duke about the poisoned wells. The guild divinates the medallion as a one way mental contact, it will tell the sender it is active, but do not know if it is a party line. It is made of a silver mithral alloy, and must be worn touching skin. We spend the night at the guild, and have a get together to decide what to do now. We could blow the whistle now and take the money. Sonic, Kary and I are keen to take the slavers on. We could join up, but no-one is keen to kill any peasants. The last option is to follow at a distance to see where the slaves are being taken. 6 April 1994 Darien has problems with his magic and cannot get us all to fly, so we put off going back to Seacroft. With time on our hands, we visit the library. An old manuscript is found showing that a pre-fall small keep was in the area we suspect is the slaver's base. The symbol on the medallion is the same as one used by a snake cult (in the tropical areas) worshipping other planer serpents. These snakemen areas look like men and most are mages, good at anything and everything. It is probably not worth saying it, but I will anyway, slaves are normally sold in sanctuary. Jhiselle gets a message from Captain Brown, apparently she has his horse, and if it is not returned in good order, terrible things will happen, to Jhiselle, I assume. Possibly 6 Darien too, he signed for the stuff. Darien gets us flying in the afternoon. Sonic and I are no fools, we fly with a mattress to cushion our landings, they work very well. 7 April 1994 We ride out of Seacroft, and joy of joys, it isn’t raining. Session 3: 16/1/95 The second trashed village is reached. This time we find a rusty sword with a snakes head symbol, and a gold coin with snake symbol on one side. The rangers of the party, Jhiselle, Darien and I follow the tracks north until they disappear after half a mile. The tracks don't end suddenly but appear to be well covered by a very good ranger. The tracks appear orderly but not in single file. We spend the night in this second village - weather report - getting bad - drizzle

8 April 1994

With an early start, smoke is seen in the distance - the slavers, I'm off. However I feel the rest of the party should come as well. Jhiselle shapechanges into a sparrow, shapechangers seem to be quite common. Jhiselle reports a village burning to the North west. I don't quite understand, but somehow she is cursed, in Sparrow form. Getting nearer to the village, Jhiselle, Darien and I stay outside and keep a sharp lookout for tracks, the others go in to talk to the dead. Meseraima finds bodies of villagers 6 years or younger, 35 or older, and arrows (with black fletches) from short bows. I stay out following tracks when Jhiselle and Darien go back. The tracks do not disappear at half a mile, I return to the village after following the tracks for over l mile and don't find anything. In the meantime, Aqualina scries the sea and spots a twin masted brig, these generally have a crew of about 20, Aqualina says. Kary brings on a storm. I go back out for another scout. Kary, Aqualina and Darien fly out to a headland to get a closer look at the ship, hoping to be able to take it if the occasion arises. The storm does not bother the ship it is still going away from shore at a good rate of. knots. Consensus deems it to be magically powered. We find two dead Goblins and one human, the latter wearing tailored black chainmail. Strange thing though, his eyes were open, and there were no marks to say how he died, or the goblins for that matter. The goblins too, had good weapons, this with the fletched arrows suggests the slavers have a good weaponsmith. Each wore a medallion. Kary divinates the human, in the last four weeks he had create flesh golem, and animate - ah ha a binder. So why is it dead, the spell is supposed to be permanent. 7 Meseraima is not able to talk to the goblins or the human. We find out there was an alchemist in the village, so poison killed the goblins. We check for any escapees’ tracks, none found. Darien DA's the human he was formerly living, and cause of de- animation was - Poison. In mid afternoon, towards dinner as we are mulling over the stuff we found, we are attacked from all sides. This is more like it, this is the stuff for adventurers! Session 4: 23/1/95 Most of the attackers are goblins, but there is one invisible human, and an invisible snakeman. The snakeman gets fireballed by Jhiselle and disappears into the clouds trailing smoke. I take on the human fighter whilst the rest deal to the goblins. The fighter eventually goes down, under Sonic, Meseraima, Jhiselle, and myself. The snakeman tries to sneak up on us later but is spotted and we chase it away. I stand guard while the others, particularly Sonic, loot the bodies. We don't forget the ears - proof for the Duke. Meseraima talks to the dead, apparently they were expecting us. They were looking for an item to help cover their tracks when we arrived. We leave the village following the tracks the raiders made. After one mile we leave the tracks and go west, covering our tracks as we go. Picking a good spot, we set up camp, Kary creates a Monsoon which was more impressive than her last storm. Mages, or is it women, are quite strange at times, although Aqualina loves water, she is almost phobic about the storm. The downpour is so great that our tracks, and our efforts at covering them will be obliteratad. Jhiselle and I nearly get splattered by a lightening bolt - the perils of outdoor life. 9 April 1994 I get Aqualina to water proof my latest scribe notes and hide them in my water bottle. It is still raining, and it's getting colder. Kary has a look into the future, and feels that the forces of darkness and the hounds of hell will hunt us to the end of the earth. I assume it is a backfire, but to be on the safe side, I keep a sharp lookout for anything resembling forces of darkness and hounds of hell. Safe(?) in our tent, we go over the stuff we found with the raiders: Ring, with a Tiger's eye gem, and no snake symbol. Kary says it is a reasonably powerful Celestial night vision for 150 ft. Hand-a-half sword, no aura but I can tell it is well crafted, feels better than my own so I'll swap for the rest of the adventure. Talwar, non-magical but silvered, again I feel it is well crafted. 1. Set of non-magical plate armour. 2. Non-magical tower shield. 8 3. Non-magical long bow. Kary hypnotises herself to like the rain, quite novel, I thought. After lunch we pack up and leave, it's still raining but at least it will help cover our tracks. The rain gets colder, Aqualina protects herself from cold but is unable to do so for everyone else. Jhiselle daydreams about fire. She reckons that immolate self, immolate horse, and CHARGE would be pretty effective. I suspect she could be right. Aqualina, Sonic, Meseraima, Darien and I get caught in a flash flood. My scribe paper is sodden and we end up catching colds. Kary hypnotises Sonic to like his cold, and it works!. I cure the colds, except, of course for Sonic, who is pretty keen on keeping his. In the evening Kary and Meseraima cannot talk to the dead. 10 April 1994 Travel all day, nothing eventful happens. Session 5: 30/1/95 During our journey we discuss options. Which are basically based around trashing the place. We can free the slaves if we attack the castle, but need to know where the slaves are being held, and how they are shackled. It would be nice to know where their armoury is, and possibly arm the slaves to help us. The majority favour a straight forward trashing the place. But first we ought to reconnoitre, and of course speak to the dead. We get a reasonable picture of the castle, the condition of the slaves, and an idea of the numbers we will be facing. A very important note, was that the keep was protected with 2 balista, one big and one small. 11 April 1994 Four lightening bolts strike all around the tents and wake everyone up at 1 o'clock in the morning. The lightning bolts seem to herald the end of the storm. Before we attack, Kary is to summon a storm both for cover and so that the slavers will want to cover up their balista (A good idea from Sonic there), it would also cover the noise of our attack. As we are packing up, Darien and Jhiselle find something etched (copies attached) into four trees surrounding the tents, just at the places the lightning bolts struck. Darien says that the arrows depict the star of Chaos, representing a particularly nasty group. Kary divinates only to find information on the tree itself, no magical impacts were noticed. Kary touches one of the trees, all the Mages go oooo and cower, I wait for some fireworks. Nothing happens. I'm as disappointed as much as the rest are relieved. It is notable that the symbol takes up the full width of the tree. The symbols are supposed to be cursed, but when Kary touched one, nothing happened. Darien 9 DA'd a tree for the last spell to impact it. He must have been impressed as all he came out with was "flashy things wot Gods do", after he settled down he decided it was some sort of "control lightning". The mages say this (anag.) happens all the time!. It is no longer raining, in fact the sun is putting in an appearance. So off we trot. Darien finds a really good camp site - in a cave with a fresh water supply. I am drying my scribe paper out slowly, in the meantime I have been using treebark. 12 April 1994 Another days march - it is clear and cool - more importantly - no rain. Aqualina notes that there are no seabirds within sight, probably because of the storm. We camp in scrub - another cave facing south, with good defenses and its own water supply. In the evening I go through my records of Meseraima and Kary's talks to the dead. Usually all the ships (4) are out at the same time, mostly raiding, and occasionally on slave selling trips. I note that all snakemen are mages, and most, if not all frogmen use magic. None of the humans or goblins are mages. Total numbers of slavers: 7 snakemen, 11-15 humans, 31-40 qoblins, and lots of frogmen. Slave selling trips: 2 snakemen, 3-4 humans, no goblins, 31-40 frogmen. Raiding Trips: 1 snakeman, 1-2 humans, 10 goblins, frogmen frog (man) the ship and do not take part in the raiding. At the base, if all ships are out: 3 snakemen, 4-5 humans, 11-20 goblins, 6-10 frogmen. The slavers use 8 hour shifts and so we can assume that a third of the defending force would be asleep when we attack. 13 April 1994 Yawn, another boring travel day. 14 April 1994 We meet the cliffs by late afternoon. We reckon it will take another day to get close to the castle. Aqualina summons and talks to a dolphin. From all accounts it is pretty dumb. Aqualina gets prepared to scrie, I get ready to watch the expected fireworks. This time Aqualina takes no chances, and we all muck in to make sure she is well protected. She has protection from fire, a special fire counter spell, a mind cloak, self immolation, and some luck!. I was not disappointed at the malignant flames, but I feel the self immolation lessened the effect somewhat. Aqualina saw a big 3 masted ship getting ready to leave, it was crewed by frogmen, and a smaller 1 masted ship. She does not see any entrances. It is now coming up to high tide, and Aqualina expects it to leave later tonight. Kary divinates Aqualina, and yes it was malignant flames. 10 It is getting dark. Session 6: 6/2/95 We make the big decision to attack and prepare ourselves. Most of us have wytchsight and shadowform, Kary and Jhiselle are unseen. We hide our packs and personal things. Meseraima will go in Tigerform. Darien performs the wytchsight and shadowform, Jhiselle gives us protection from fire. They, and Aqualina rest for 4 hours, to recoup their used fatigue. On the way to the castle, Kary lands and does her storm calling. But it is a beautifully clear night and Kary fails. After several goes, Kary does it. But it seems to be coming a lot slower than the last one. We wait a bit longer to try to match our entrance with the storm. Darien reckons the wings on most of us will fizzle out before the storm gets to the castle, so we go in anyway.